Seal.



R. A. EDGAR.

SEAL.

APPLlcAmN HLEDDECA. 191s.

ateted July 31, 1917.

WAM I MOM/M ,4 TTURNE YS vUNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEicE- ROBERT ANDREW EDG-AR, 0F CARLYLE, KANSAS, ASSIGNOR OF TWO-FIFTHS TO J' ARED C. HADLEY, 0F CHANUTE, KANSAS.

SEAL.

Application filed December 6, 1916.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT A. EDGAR, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Carlyle, in the county of Allen and State of Kansas, have invented an Improvement in Seals, of which the following is a specilication.

My invention is an improvement in seals, and has for its object to provide a seal of simple construction, adapted to be used with the ordinary car door fastener, and which, when bent and folded upon itself in the proper manner, cannot be detached without breaking the same, thus indicating that the seal has been tampered with, and wherein the arrangement is such that when the folded portion of the. seal is detached, there will be no connection between the parts remaining, permitting easy removal of the body of the seal.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the improved seal before folding.

Fig'. 2 is a perspective view showing the seal folded.

Fig. 3 is a front view of the folded seal.

Fig. 4 is a rear view.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section through the seal in place.

The present embodiment of the invention Y is shown connected with a staple 1, which has been passed through a hasp 2, the seal being bent over the staple in such manner as to prevent disengagement of the hasp without the removal of the seal. The seal is in the form of a strip 3 of suitable material, as, for instance, flat wire, sheet metal or the like, and the ends are provided with means for permitting them to be connected without the use of a tool.

Both ends of the strip are reduced as indicated at 4 and 5, respectively, and at the end 4 the strip is further reduced to form a longitudinally extending tongue 6. At the outer end of the portion 4 and near its connection with the tongue,the strip is notched at each side, as indicated at 7, a depth such that the portion remaining between the notches is of the same width as the tongue. At the opposite end a head 8 is provided beyond the reduced portion 5, and between the head and the reduced portion the strip is notched, as indicated at 9, leaving a width of strip equal to the width o f the tongue 6. Just beyond the notches Specication Aof Letters Patent.

Patented July 31, 1917. Serial No. 135,346.

the head has a transverse slot 10, which is of a width to receive the tongue 6. The outer `end of the head is notched as shown at 11,

the notch being of a width to permit the tween the slot 10 and the notch 1l, and

upon. the front face 'of the portion 4. When the tongue is passed through the slot 10, as above-mentioned, far enough so that the shoulders 12 will prevent further movement of the tongue, the notches 7 will register with the notches y9. This permits that portion of the folded seal beyond the said notches 7 and 9 to be bent upwardly upon the body lof the seal, as shown in Figs. 2

to 5 inclusive. VThe Yseal is now folded in such manner that it cannot be detached without breakingolf the folded parts, that is that portion of each end of the seal beyond the notches 7 and 9. When the said portion is'bent downwardly, that portion of the strip between the notches 7 and the notches 9 will be ruptured and the entire folded portion of the seal will come away, leaving merely the body of the seal in place with its ends disconnected.

The present invention is an improvement over my prior Patent No. 1,140,183, the improvement consisting in the provision of the notches 7 and 9, which permit the easy folding of the connected tongue and head upwardly upon the body of the seal, and which insures the detachment of the folded portion when the said parts are unfolded. In the prior patent when the tongue, corresponding to the tongue 6, was unfolded and broken away, a portion of the tongue remained in the slot, corresponding to the slot 10, and the said portion of the tongue must be detached before the seal could be removed. In the present invention after the parts are broken away there remains no connection between the ends of the seal, and the strip may be easily withdrawn from the staple.

The number of the seal and the initials of the railway indicated generally at l5 are placed on the seal in such position that they will be exposed to view when the seal is in use, and they are so placed that should the head of the seal, that is the bent and locked portion, be broken 0E, a new head cannot be formed, with a ile for instance, without deacing the number of initials.

It will be noticed that notches are provided between the notches 9 and the outer end of the head 8. These notches are for the following purpose, namely to preclude the possibility of cutting through the head betweenthe corner and the adjacent Vend of the slot 10 to permit the portion outside the cut to be bent back in order to slip the seal out laterally. With this done the seal might be replaced and the cut portions moved back into alinement to hide the cut, and to leave the seal apparently normal. VithV the notches, however, this cutting would not be feasible, since a portion of the strip has necessarily7 to be cut away. The notch 11 also assists in this purpose.

I claim:

l. A seal comprising a strip having one end reduced to form a tongue and having at the other end a head, the said head having a transverse slot through which the tongue is adapted to be passed, and the said head being notched at its outer end in alinement with the slot to permit the tongue to be folded back through the notch upon the opposite face of the head after it has been passed through the slot, said strip being weakened at the junction of the head therewith and at the junction of the tongue there-V Y with, and the said weakened portions being arranged to register and coincide when the tongue has been engaged with the head, `to permit the head and the tongue to be folded up upon the body of the seal.

2. A seal comprising a strip having one nected ends to be bent back upon the body of Y the strip for the purpose specified.

3. A seal comprising a strip having at one end a tongue and at the other end a slot to permit the passage of the tongue, the tongue being adapted to be passed through the slot and bent around the adjacent end of4 the strip and back upon the body of the strip, said strip being weakened at the inner sides of the tongue and slot to permit the c0n-V nected ends to be bent upon the body of the strip to insure the detachment of the connected parts of the seal when the said portion is unbent.

ROBERT ANDREW EDGAR.. Witnesses:

J. O. HADLEY, M. C. ALLEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

